#1168: Representing Hózhǫ́ through Digital Storytelling: Lessons from the Design Process of a Diné Youth

Native youths’ formal learning experiences still harm and attempt to silence them; thus, Native educators are designing out-of-school spaces where Native youth can grow in their cultural identities. We join these positive and powerful efforts that seek to honor Indigenous sovereignty and support Native youths’ self-determination in teaching and learning. We are guided by Hózhǫ́, a Navajo word describing a holistic way of living in beauty and balance, as our theoretical framework. In this paper, we present teachings of a Diné youth and their digital storytelling process that weaves Hózhǫ́ through carrying, sharing, and representing stories. Insights from this youth’s teachings contribute to current understandings of youth digital storytelling practices and processes through the life-giving and life-celebrating framework of Hózhǫ́.